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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



TABLE TALK. 






£ i 









' I WOULD NOT PART WITH MY SMALL SKILL IN MUSIC 

for much." — Page 116. 



T+<yfe 



Copyright, 1893, by 
Frederick A. Stokes Company. 




CONTENTS. 

r 



INTRODUCTION .... 


7 


BOOK I. 




OF THE WORKS OF GOD . . • 


21 


OF THE WORD OF GOD . . 


. 27 


OF JESUS CHRIST .... 


35 


OF THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL . 


• 39 


OF THE CHURCH .... 


41 


OF PREACHING AND PREACHERS . 


. 45 


OF CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION . 


55 


THE LORD'S SUPPER . . . 


. 57 


GOOD WORKS . . . . • 


61 


OF THE DEVIL . • • • 


. 63 


PRAYER ...... 


69 



Content^ 



BOOK II. 

PAGE 

OF DEATH 73 

OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD 

AND LIFE ETERNAL ... 77 

OF MARRIAGE 8 1 

OF THE JEWS 87 

OF ECCLESIASTICAL LEGENDS . . 93 

THE WORLD AND ITS WAYS . . 97 

OF PRINCES AND RULERS . . . 105 

OF THE USE OF LEARNING . . Ill 

OF COMEDIES II3 

OF THE POWER OF MUSIC . . II5 

OF SINGING 117 

OF GERMANY II9 

OF LANGUAGES 1 23 

OF THE SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES 

OF GERMANY I27 

OF THE TURKS I31 

OF THE HEROES AND WISE MEN OF 

ANTIQUITY .... I33 
OF THE FATHERS AND DOCTORS OF 

THE CHURCH . . • . 1 37 




INTRODUCTION. 

r 




fUTHERis the national hero 
of the German people. No 
king or statesman, not even 
their great poets Goethe and 
Schiller, have such a place in the hearts 
of the Germans as "Doctor Martin 
Luther. " The feeling cherished towards 
him is rather a personal affection to- 
wards a familiar friend, than the dis- 
tant admiration felt for a great man 
who has been dead for more than three 



3|ntrotmctfom 



hundred years. This is due in no 
small measure to his Letters and to his 
Table Talk, from which we offer a few 
selections in this volume. Luther was 
in the habit of talking much to the 
friends who gathered round him at the 
evening meal in his home at Witten- 
berg. In these talks he revealed him- 
self with a frankness which has few 
parallels in history. Fortunately for 
posterity, there was a Boswell present 
in the person of John Goldschmidt, or, 
to give him his Latinized name, Auri- 
faber, who made copious notes of the 
talk of the master. Not satisfied with 
what he heard himself, he applied to 
other friends who had been longer 
guests at Luther's table than himselt ; 
and from their recollections he supple- 
mented his own. He did not publish 
the collection immediately after Luther's 
death; and he appears to have felt 
some hesitation about publication. 



3|ntrotmctfom 



This is not surprising ; for Luther had 
uttered a most energetic protest against 
the posthumous publication of his 
remains. But in the year 1566 the 
book appeared, and Aurifaber said in 
the preface, that he felt he could no 
longer with a good conscience withhold 
from the world the precious treasure of 
which he was the possessor. The pub- 
lication may have been something of 
an indiscretion ; for it proclaimed to 
the whole world, words which had been 
carelessly uttered in the society of 
trusted friends ; and there is always a 
certain injustice in such revelations. 
But Luther's character was able to 
bear the fierce light thus cast upon 
it. His faults are visible enough in 
these conversations. He is often im- 
patient and unreasonable. Sometimes 
he is coarse, and there are expressions 
in his talk which seem to border on 
irreverence, although here, perhaps, the 
1 * 



io 3IntroUuctfom 

fault is quite as much with the modern 
reader as with Luther. But when all 
abatements have been made, the Luther 
of these conversations is one of the 
most attractive characters of history. 
What love and tenderness to the weak ! 
what courage in denouncing wrong, 
which indeed is but the reverse side of 
his great pity for the weak ! Another 
quality that strikes us in Dr. Aurifa- 
ber's recollections is Luther's unfailing 
sense of humour. Reformers are 
usually deficient in humour. Their 
earnestness seldom permits them to 
laugh. Luther was the most earnest 
man of his century, and lived in more 
earnest times than any Europe had 
witnessed since the close of the first 
century. But his merry laugh rings 
through the entire solemn drama of his 
life. He relieved himself and others 
by permitting himself glimpses at the 
ludicrous aspects which human nature 



3|ntrolmcttotu n 

presents even in the transaction of its 
most solemn and momentous matters. 

Luther's reputation has indeed gained 
rather than lost through the somewhat 
indiscreet publication of his familiar 
" Table Talk." He has been the sub- 
ject of much obloquy, which is hardly 
to be wondered at. He was the leader 
of a fierce theological debate, and he 
never spared his foes. He was the 
cause of a schism in the Church of 
Germany which, however inevitable, 
was the occasion of great evils. He 
was indeed from his position the natural 
mark for the hatred of opponents. But 
as time has gone on, Germans of all 
shades of opinions have been irresis- 
tibly fascinated by the strong tender 
man, a German Saint Christopher, who 
seems to bend over them with eyes of 
infinite love and pity, like the presiding 
genius of their nation. Theological 
bitterness is not extinct in Germany 



12 3|ntrotiuctioru 

any more than in England, but even 
those who profess a different theology 
from Luther, or no theology at all, now 
recognize the greatness of Luther. Fer- 
dinand Christian Von Baur, the dis- 
tinguished leader of the Tubingen 
school, writes thus of Luther in his 
" Church History : " " Every one in 
whose veins German blood flows must 
recognize in Luther a German man in 
whom, as in no other, the German 
character was exhibited in its purest 
and noblest features." One, who might 
have been expected to be more hostile 
to Luther than Baur, the eminent 
Roman Catholic professor, Dr. D61- 
linger, of Munich, has also expressed 
his sense of Luther's greatness with no 
less justice than generosity. " Luther 
is the most powerful man of the people, 
the most popular character whom Ger- 
many has ever possessed. In the 
spirit of this German man, the greatest 



3ntro&uctfoiu 13 

among his contemporaries, Protestant 
doctrine arose. Before the superiority 
of his genius and his creative energy, 
the most aspiring and energetic portion 
of German people bowed the knee in 
humility and faith. In this man, in 
whom power was combined with insight, 
they recognized their master, and by 
his thoughts they lived. He seemed 
to them the hero in whom their nation 
had become incarnate." On another 
occasion Dr. Dollinger wrote of Lu- 
ther : — " Luther's supereminent great- 
ness of soul, and his marvellous many- 
sidedness made him the man of his 
time and the man of his people. There 
never was a German who understood 
his people with such intuitive percep- 
tion, and who was so understood — I 
may say drunk in — by his people as 
this Augustinian monk of Wittenberg. 
He held the mind and the spirit of the 
Germans in hand as a musician holds 



14 3ntrobuctfotu 

his lyre." One more example may be 
given of German reverence for Luther. 
Heine was a Jew by birth, and a reli- 
gious sceptic, and as a critic he often 
employed his unrivalled mastery of 
gibes and sarcasms in sneering away 
German reputations. But of Luther he 
wrote : — " Honour to Luther ! Everlast- 
ing honour to the dear man to whom we 
owe the recovery of our noblest rights, 
and through whose labours we live to- 
day ! It becomes us ill to complain 
of the narrowness of his views. The 
dwarf who stands upon the shoulders 
of the giant may certainly see farther, 
especially if he puts on spectacles ; but 
he cannot bring to the prospect the lofty 
emotion and the giant heart of the other. 
It becomes us the less to judge his 
faults severely, as his very faults were 
of more service to us than the virtues 
of a thousand others. The fine dis- 
cernment of Erasmus, and the gentle- 



3|ntroDucttom 15 

ness of Melanchthon, had never done 
so much for us as the divine brutality 
of Brother Martin." 

It is exactly four hundred years 
since Luther was born, and during the 
present autumn Germany has been 
showing its undiminished interest in 
him by numerous celebrations, while 
the German press has been teeming 
with publications on his life and works. 
The interest has extended to England, 
and we have thought that the present 
selection from his " Table Talk " might 
be acceptable to English readers. The 
edition we have used in making this 
translation is that of Dr. Forstemann. 1 



1 D. Martin Luther's Tischreden oder 
Colloquia. Nach Aurifaber's erster Ausgabe, 
mit sorgfaltiger Vergleichung sowohl der 
Stangwaldschen als der Selneccer'schen Redac- 
tion herausgegeben und erlautert von Karl 
Eduard Forstemann, Doctor der Theologie. 
Leipzig, 1844. 



16 gintrotmctforu 

Portions of the "Table Talk" have 
been already translated into English. 
A Captain Henry Bell, who lived in 
the reign of Charles I., made a trans- 
lation which was submitted to Arch- 
bishop Laud, then in prison. After 
many delays, Captain Bell received a 
letter from the archbishop's chaplain, 
Dr. Bray, approving of his book. " He 
sent me," writes Captain Bell, " both 
the said original book and my trans- 
lation, and caused his chaplain, the 
said doctor, to tell me that he would 
make it known unto his Majesty what 
an excellent piece of work I had trans- 
lated, and that he would procure an 
order from his Majesty to have the 
said translation printed, and to be dis- 
persed throughout the whole kingdom." 
The translation which gained the ap- 
proval of Laud was afterwards ordered 
to be printed by the House of Com- 
mons, on the 24th of February, 1646. 



3|ntrotmcttom 17 

Mr. William Hazlitt translated with 
great spirit a portion of the " Table 
Talk," and his translation is now one 
of the volumes of Bonn's Standard 
Library. 

J. G. 
October^ 1883. 




BOOK I. 




OF THE WORKS OF 
GOD. 

f 

>0D could become exceed- 
ingly rich, were He so 
minded. Were He, for 
example, to come to the 
Pope, to the Emperor, to kings, 
bishops, doctors, citizens, and farmers, 
and say to them: "You shall die 
this very hour, unless you give me a 
hundred thousand gulden;" all would 




22 j©f tTje SGlorfe0 of (Botu 

reply, " I will give them willingly, if I 
may but live." But we are such low, 
thankless fellows, that we do not give 
him so much as a Deo gratias for all the 
great benefits which we daily receive in 
such abundance of His free goodness 
and mercy. Is not it a shame ? Were 
He more sparing with His gifts, we 
should be more thankful to Him. If, 
for example, He caused every man to be 
born with one leg or one foot, and gave 
him the other leg seven years later. 
And were He to give to man one hand 
in his fourteenth year, and his second 
hand in his twentieth year, we should 
then better recognize His gifts and 
benefits, and value them more. Now 
has He given us a whole sea full of His 
word. He gives us all manner of lan- 
guages and liberal arts. All sorts of 
books can be bought cheap ; and there 
are learned men in abundance who are 
able to teach in an orderly and correct 



flDf tfie flfllorfcg of dfriti* 23 

manner, so that a boy, if not altogether a 
dunce, may learn more in a single year 
than in former times could have been 
learned in many years. The arts are 
now so cheap that they must almost 
go begging for bread. Woe be to us 
that we are so lazy, negligent, and 
unthankful ! When Dr. Martin saw 
the cattle in the field he said : " There 
go our preachers, the bearers of milk, of 
butter, of cheese, and of wool, who 
daily preach faith in God, and tell us 
to put our trust in Him, as our Father 
who cares for us and nourishes us 
(Matt. vi. 2)." 



Towards evening there came into 
the Doctor's garden two birds which 
had made their nests there. But they 
were often frightened when any one 
passed near. Then said the Doctor : 
" Ah, you dear little bird, do not fly 



24 S>t rlje aaiorfes of (BoO. 

away, I am heartily well disposed to- 
wards you, would you only believe it." In 
like manner have we no trust in God, 
who has nevertheless always shown 
us every kindness. He who has given 
His Son for us will not strike us dead. 



* 
God alone and not wealth nourishes 
and upholds us. Riches make people 
proud and lazy. At Venice, where 
there are the richest people in the 
world, there was a terrible famine within 
our recollection, and the Venetians 
were obliged to appeal to the Turks for 
help. They sent twenty-four galleys 
laden with corn, which, when they were 
about to enter the harbour of Venice, 
sunk before the eyes of the people. 
Wealth cannot satisfy hunger, but 
rather makes the dearth greater. For 
where there are many rich people, 
things are dearer. Moreover, money 



S>t tfje aaiorfegf of <Boti> 25 

makes no man joyful, but rather makes 
him downcast, and fills him with cares. 
For riches, as Christ says, are like 
thorns, and they prick men. Yet is 
the world so foolish as to seek for all 
its joy in riches. 





OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



r 




DID not learn my theology 
all at once. I was con- 
strained by my perplexities 
to search deeper and deeper 
The Scripture cannot be understood 
except through perplexities and temp- 
tations. St. Paul had a devil that beat 
him with fists, and drove him by means 
of his temptations to the diligent study 
of Scripture. I had the Pope, the 
Universities, and all the learned, and 
by these the devil had me in his 



28 flDf tfje afllorti of (BoO. 

grip. But they hunted me into the 
Bible so that I read it diligently, and 
at length I attained to a true under- 
standing of the Word of God. 

* 

The Holy Scriptures are full of 
Divine gifts and virtues. The heathen 
books taught nothing of faith, hope, 
and love, for they knew nothing of 
them. They look only to the present, 
and to what man can feel and grasp 
with his reason. But of faith and hope 
in God they cannot speak. It is in 
the Psalms and in the Book of Job 
that we shall find such counsels, for 
they treat of faith, hope, patience, and 
prayer. In a word, Holy Scripture is the 
highest and best Book of God, full of 
comfort for every season of temptation. 
* 

Dr. Justin Jonas once told Dr. 



<£>£ tfje asioro of (Boa. 29 

Martin Luther of a noble in Meissen 
who gave himself to the amassing of 
gold and treasure, and was so blinded 
that he cared nothing for the five 
Books of Moses. This man said to 
the Duke John Frederic, who had been 
discussing with him about the Gospel : 
" Sir, the Gospel is nothing to your 
Grace." Luther then told this fable: 
u The lion made a great feast, and he 
invited all the beasts, and among the 
others, a sow was invited. And when 
all manner of costly dishes were set 
before the guests, the sow asked : ' Is 
there any bran there?' Even so," 
said Luther, " is it with the Epicureans 
of to-day. We preachers place before 
them, in our churches, the most costly 
dainties, eternal blessedness, the for- 
giveness of sins, and the grace of God. 
But they, like swine, turn up their snouts 
and grub for money." 



30 flDf tlje aaiorti of (Botu 

The words of the Lord Christ are 
full of power, and have hands and feet, 
and they repel all the assaults which 
the wisdom and cunning of wise men 
can make. This we see in the Gos- 
pels. 

* 
Saint Jerome, who first corrected 
and improved the version of the Seventy, 
afterwards translated the Bible from the 
Hebrew into Latin, and this is the 
translation which we still use in our 
churches. He has done well enough 
for one, Nulla enim privata persona 
tantum efficere potuisset. But he would 
have done better had he got one or 
two learned men to aid him in the 
translation. Then had the Holy Ghost 
been more powerful according to the 
word of Christ. " For where two or 
three are gathered together in my name, 
there am I in the midst of them " 



flDf tfje aoiora of d5olr* 31 

(Matt, xviii. 21). Translators should 
not be alone, for not to one man will 
the fitting word always occur. 

The art of the scholastic theologians, 
with its speculations on Holy Scripture, 
is nothing but pure vanity, and the 
thoughts of human reason. I have read 
much in Buonaventura, but he made 
me almost deaf. I desired greatly to 
understand how God is united with 
my soul ; but I could learn nothing 
from such writings on the subject. 
They say muchof the union of the un- 
derstanding and the will, but it is vain 
phantasy and fanaticism. This is the 
true speculative and the much more 
practical theology: Believe on Christ, 
and do what thou art bound to do in 
thy calling. 

* 
Dr. Luther once said : u Had I 
known at first, before I began to write, 



32 flDf tfje afllorti of <BoU* 

what I now know, that people are so 
hostile to the Word of God, and deter- 
mined to oppose it, I should certainly 
have held my tongue. I should never 
have been so bold as to attack the 
Pope and almost all men, and incense 
them against me. I thought that they 
sinned through ignorance and human 
frailty. I did not understand that they 
purposely kept down the Word of God. 
But God drew me on in my blindness, 
just as men blind a horse that he may 
run the better." 

* 
I believe that the beautiful fables of 
^Esop arose in this way. When the 
Emperor Julian, who was a Mameluke 
and an apostate Christian, forbade men 
to read the Scriptures or to teach them 
within his empire, two pious bishops, 
as the church histories tell us, became 
schoolmasters, and taught the young 



£>£ tfje aaiom of gDOtu 33 

boys in the schools. They amused 
them with such fables, and showed 
them Truth clad in a fair garment of 
flowers. 





OF JESUS CHRIST. 

r 

[ LL the wisdom of the world 
is childish folly in compari- 
son with the knowledge of 
Christ. For what is more 
marvellous than the great and unspeak- 
able mystery that the Son of God, 
the image of the Eternal Father, took 
our human nature, and was in form 
and countenance like any other man ? 
In Nazareth he would help his father 
Joseph to build houses; for Joseph 




36 flDf giesttcf Cfjrtet. 

was a carpenter ; and Christ was called 
the carpenter's son. What will the 
people of Nazareth think at the Day 
of Judgment, when they shall see Christ 
in His Divine majesty. They will say 
to Him : " Lord, didst Thou not help 
to build my house ? How hast Thou 
come to this great honour ?" 

* 
When Jesus was born He wept and 
cried like any other child. Mary had 
to tend Him, and to give Him suck as 
the Church teacheth. When He re- 
turned to Nazareth after the death of 
Herod. He was subject to his parents, 
and He would often fetch bread and 
water and other things for them. Mary 
would often say to Him : " My dear 
little Jesus, where hast Thou been ? 
Canst Thou not remain at home ? " 

* 

* 



flDf 3(e0u0 Cf)rt0t. 37 

We cannot vex the devil more than 
by teaching, preaching, and singing of 
the child Jesus. Therefore I am al- 
ways well pleased when we sing loud 
and solemnly in the church : Et homo 
factusest ; and, Verbum caro factum est 
The devil cannot bear to hear these 
words, but flees miles away, for he 
knows well what they signify. 



"Many of the dead are forgotten, 
can you not also forget the dead 
Christ?" These words were spoken 
by a Jew, and very devilish words they 
are. Yes, dear devil, but there are the 
words, " Sit Thou at My right hand." 
And therefore must Christ be preached 
— His sufferings and His death — as 
long as the world stands. 

Christ our High Priest is gone into the 



38 flDf 3(e0u0 Ctjrfgt* 

heavens. He " sitteth at the right hand 
of the Father, and continually maketh 
intercession for us " (Rom. viii. 34). In 
these words St. Paul gives a picture of 
Christ in very beautiful and glorious 
words. In His Death He is a sacrifice ; 
in His Resurrection a conqueror; in 
His Ascension a king; in His Inter- 
cession a high priest; for by the law 
of Moses the high priest alone en- 
tered the Sancta Sanctorum and prayed 
for the people. 





OF THE LA W AND THE 
GOSPEL. 

r 

WILL have none of Moses 
with his law, for he is the 
enemy of the Lord Christ. 
If he summons me for judg- 
ment, I will dismiss him and say, " In 
God's name no, here standeth Christ. " 
At the Day of Judgment Moses will 
look to me and say: "Thou didst 
understand me rightly, and didst make 
a very proper distinction." And we 
shall be very good friends. 

The law is given to the proud, for 




40 S>t tije Hato anO tlje (KosSpeL 

example to the City N.N. and others. 
Likewise to hypocrites, who desire it, 
and are pleased to have many laws. 
But grace is promised to the humble, 
to those of troubled and tormented 
hearts, for to them does forgiveness 
of sin belong. M. Nicolaus, Cordatus, 
Philip and I belong to Grace. 
* 

Where the true Gospel is, there is 
poverty ; as it is written, " I am sent to 
preach the gospel to the poor" (Isa. 
xi i). In former times people were 
willing to bestow in gift whole cloisters, 
now they will give nothing. Super- 
stition, false teaching, and hypocrisy 
give money enough. Truth goeth a- 
begging. 



A lie is like a snowball, the longer 
one rolls it the larger it grows. 




OF THE CHURCH. 




IN olive-tree grows for two 
hundred years and bears 
fruit. It is a fine image of 
the Church. Its oil signi- 
fies the love and friendliness of the 
gospel. Wine again signifieth the doc- 
trine of the law. And there is so great 
natural affinity between the vine and 
the olive-tree, that when the vine is 
engrafted on the olive-tree it brings 
forth both wine and oil. So the Church, 
when engrafted on the people, teacheth 



42 flDf tfje Cjjurcl)* 

both gospel and law, and has of both 
fruit. 



The amaranth is a flower w T hich 
grows in the month of August. It is 
more stalk than flower, is easily broken 
off, and grows in a joyful and pleasant 
fashion. When all other flowers decay, 
this flower, if sprinkled with water, be- 
comes again fair and green, so that in 
winter garlands are made of it. It is 
called amaranth because it neither 
withers nor decays. 



I know not anything more like the 
Church than this most lovely flower. 
For although the Church bathes her 
garments in the blood of the Lamb, 
as we read in Genesis and in the 
Apocalypse, and is of a red colour, yet 
is she more fair than any state or as- 



<S)t tfje Cljurc^ 43 

sembly upon the earth. The Son of 
God loves her as His bride, and in 
her alone has He pleasure and joy. 
To her alone does His heart cling, and 
He rejects and loathes all others who 
despise or falsify His gospel. 



Moreover, the Church willingly 
suffers herself to be plucked and broken 
off, that is, she is obedient to God and 
submissive under the cross. 

We tell our Lord God that if He 
will have His Church, He must uphold 
it. We cannot uphold it for Him, and 
were it possible for us to do so, we 
should soon become the proudest asses 
under heaven. But God says, " I say 
it, I do it." It is God alone that 
speaks, and He does nothing according 
to the mind of the ungodly, or as they 
hold to be good and right. 




OF PREACHING AND 
PREACHERS. 

r 

'R. MARTIN LUTHER 

said to a pastor, "When you 
are about to preach, speak 
with God and say, 'Dear 
Lord God, I will preach to Thy honour, 
and speak of Thee. Thee I will 
adore, and praise Thy name, although 
I cannot do it so well as I should wish 
to do.' And do not look at Philip, 
or at me, or at any of the learned 
men, but reckon yourself to be the most 




46 flDf $rt acting; anO preacljerg* 

learned when you speak of God from 
the pulpit. I have never allowed 
myself to be shocked by the idea that 
cannot preach well, but I have often I 
been filled with fear because I had to 
speak of the majesty of God and for 
Him. Therefore be strong and pray." 

* * 

* 

The faults of a preacher are quickly 
observed. If a pious preacher has ten 
virtues and but one fault, the one fault 
obscures all his virtues. So evil is our 
world. Dr. Jonas has all the virtues 
of a preacher, but because he often 
hems, the people cannot endure the 
good man. 

* 

Some preachers torment their hearers 

with long sermons. Hearing is a 

delicate thing, and we soon become 

tired of a subject. Dr. Pomner always 



<j5f ^reac^tngan&^reactje^ 47 

quotes, as an excuse for his long ser- 
mons, the words of St. John, Ci He that 
is of God heareth God's word " (John 
viii. 47). But moderation is good in 
all things. 



Cursed be those preachers who in 
the churches deal with difficult, subtle 
matters, and bring such before the 
people. They seek their own honour, 
and wish to give pleasure to one or 
two ambitious hearers. When I preach 
I let myself down to the lowest : I don't 
see the doctors and the magistrates, of 
whom there are about forty, but I look 
at the crowd of young people, the 
children and the servants, who are 
there in hundreds or thousands. To 
them I preach and direct my words, 
for they have need of my words. If 
the others do not wish to listen to me, 
the door stands open ! 



48 flDf ^reactjmg anti ^reacfjens* 

Theology consists in use and prac- 
tice, not in speculation or in examina- 
tion of the things of God by the reason. 
Every art, whether applied to household 
affairs or to government, loses itself 
and becomes unprofitable when it in- 
dulges in speculations. 



A jurist may be a rogue, but a theo- 
logian must be a man of piety. A 
jurist has to deal only with the affairs 
of this temporal world, but a theologian 
has to deal with things spiritual and 
eternal which have been committed 
to him by God. His heaven and 
all His gifts and treasures, forgiveness 
of sins, righteousness— these have been 
committed to the theologian. Piety 
becomes such a trust. For God says, 
"Whose soever sins ye remit, him I 
receive as my child." 



3D£ ^readjmg; ant) preacljecg* 49 

Jurists, theologians, and physicians 
may counsel, absolve, and help. But 
what is said to such persons ought to 
be kept secret by them. 



There is continual hatred between the 
clergy and the laity, and not without 
reason ; for unbridled mobs of pea- 
sants, citizens, nobles, and especially 
the princes and lords, refuse to listen 
to reproof. But it is the office of the 
preacher to reprove those who live in 
open sin, and who offend against the 
Ten Commandments of God, whether 
of the first or of the second Table. 
This is very distasteful to men, and 
they watch with very sharp eyes those 
preachers who do their duty faithfully. 

* 

At court these rules should be ob- 
served. We must cry aloud and accuse. 
3 



5o £>£ ^reacljfng; an* ^rearljcns* 

If we are not heard the first time, 
we must ask again. For neither 
modesty nor the gospel suits the court, 
and we must complain and importune. 
We must place Moses with his horns 
in the court, and not Christ, who is 
mild and friendly. Therefore I coun- 
sel my pastors to complain at court 
of their poverty and necessities. I 
preached publicly on the subject be- 
fore the Elector, who himself is pious 
and upright, but the people about him 
do what they please. Philip Melanch- 
thon and Justus Jonas were lately 
called in question by the courtiers on 
account of what I had said, but they re- 
plied : " Dr. Luther is old enough, and 
k.iows well what he ought 10 preach." 

v K 

Vr ?. T a:Uii Luther once asked Dr. 
Hieronymus Wellei li w he was. He 
r plied, " I am in trouble and sorr \v. ' 



€>£ ^reacljinjyaiiti preacfjerg* 51 

"I know how it comes," Dr. Martin 
Luther answered. " Were you not bap- 
tized ? Ah, what a great gift of God 
is baptism, which the Turks and other 
infidels have not ! " 
* 

* 
Justus Menius asked Dr. Luther 
" In what manner a Jew should be 
baptized ? " He replied : " You must 
fill a tub with water, cause the Jew to 
take off his clothes, and clothe him in a 
white garment. He must then sit down 
in the tub, and you must baptize him 
under the water. Do it in this fashion ; 
for the ancients, when they were bap- 
tized, were clad in white. Perhaps 
they wore such clothing because it was 
the custom to attire the dead in white 
frocks. And baptism is an image of 
death. I believe that Christ was bap- 
tized in this manner by John in Jordan. 
But if a Jew, not truly pious, came to 



52 flDf ^reacljing ana Preacfjerg. 

me for baptism, I would take him to 
the Elbe Bridge, and hang a stone 
round his neck, and fling him into the 
Elbe ; for the scoundrels mock us and 
our religion." Therefore he earnestly 
counselled Justus Menius not to allow 
himself to be deceived by the flatter- 
ing words of the Jews. 

* 
Once one who was absent sent a 
message to Dr. Martin Luther through 
a friend, and inquired whether baptism 
might be administered with warm 
water? Luther replied: "Tell the 
blockhead that water is water, whether 
cold or warm," 

* 
Christ has given the keys to the 
Church for consolation, and com- 
manded its servants to employ them 
to bind the impenitent, and to loose 




' With these words he comforted me, and I 

ENTERED INTO PEACE."— Page 53. 



^Df ^areacTjing: ana ^reac^ertf. 53 

those who do penance, recognize and 
confess their sins, and believe that God 
forgiveth for Christ's sake. 

The power of God's Word is great, 
and a brother and a Christian can by 
means of it lift up and console. The 
use of the keys and of special absolu- 
tion in confession is very great, and by 
it the conscience can be brought to 
peace, and I would not have it over- 
turned, Under the Papacy I was a 
poor, sad-hearted monk, and was al- 
ways in great conflict of spirit At 
length I obtained consolation from 
some words of a brother, who said to me, 
u You ought to take comfort and hope. 
Our salvation and blessedness consists in 
faith upon God in Christ. Why, then, 
not trust God, who has commanded us 
to hope ? " With these words he com- 
forted me, and I entered into peace. 




OF CONFESSION AND 
ABSOLUTION. 



te 




'R. LUTHER was once 
asked, "If a pastor and 
confessor were to absolve a 
woman who had killed her 
n infant, and a rumour afterwards got 
abroad of the < rime, would the pastor 
be unrirr an obligation to give evidence 
before the jidge?" Pr. Luther an- 
swered, "Most cerl in y not, Chur- h 
government ought to Le separated 



56 Confession anU absolution* 

from ordinary government, and it 
is not I that hear confession, but 
the Lord Christ, and what Christ 
has not revealed ought not to be re- 
vealed by me. I should say, ' I have 
heard nothing ; if Christ has heard any- 
thing, let Him speak.' To the woman 
I would say privately, * Woman, sin no 
more.' There was a monk in Venice 
who absolved a woman who had slain 
her lover and thrown the body into 
the water. But the monk was corrupted 
by money, and betrayed the secret. 
The woman defended herself by saying 
that she had received absolution, and 
she showed the certificate of absolution 
in the monk's handwriting. The coun- 
cil of Venice recognized it, and con- 
demned the monk to be burned, while 
the woman was simply expelled from 
the city. It was a right and rational 
decision of the council, and the monk 
deserved to be condemned as a traitor. " 




THE LORD'S SUPPER. 

r 

KNOW for certain that the 
words of the institution of 
the Lord's Supper are true, 
and I am therefore prepared 
to defend them against any one. I 
have never heard any argument against 
the Lord's Supper that moved me. 




Dr. Luther said at table, in the year 
1542, "The sacramentarians plague us 
about charity in their writings, and 



58 %\)t Horb'g Supper. 

they say, ' They of Wittenberg have no 
charity.' When we ask them what 
charity is, they say that it consists in this, 
Ut consentiamus in doctrina, et omittatnus 
rixas Mas de religione. We must an- 
swer them by saying, Listen, there are 
two tables in the Ten Commandments — - 
the first and the second ; now, charity 
belongs to the second table. But in 
the first table the meaning is, Time 
Dennis audi verbum ejus. In the second 
table we read, Ama, ama, sis pius in 
patrem, matrem et fr. ximum. But 
in the first, Si quis d'ii^it plus patron et 
matrem quam vie, non est me digitus* 
The second table sa\ s, ■ Cherish ch rity 
towards parents, towards chil Ten, to 
thy wife, and to thy n< ighbours.' But in 
the first table it s i) s, c i qu s d? 'igit plus 
patrem et mati\m quam uu\ Where 
Me comes, there must charity cease/ 1 

* 



W$z Itorti'g Supper. 59 

Dr. Martin Luther was asked if one 
who was about to die, and could not 
obtain the sacrament from the Papists, 
might take it himself. " No," said he, 
"since there ought always to be at 
least two persons present — one who 
gives, and another who receives. A 
woman might in case of necessity 
baptize her child, but the child does 
not baptize itself." 




GOOD WORKS. 




r 

HERE was once a monas- 
tery which was rich because 
it gave alms liberally, but 
when it ceased to give, it 
became poor. And one came to its gate 
and begged an alms, and was refused. 
The beggar said : " Why will you give 
nothing when I beg for the sake of 
God ? " The porter made answer : 
11 We are poor." The beggar said : "I 
know the reason of your poverty. You 



62 <Eoo& aaiorfas* 

had once two brethren in the monastery. 
You drove out the one, and the other 
has secretly gone out after his brother. 
When the brother Date is driven forth, 
Dabitur is likewise lost." 

Dr. Martin Luther once went walking 
into a neighbouring village with Dr. 
Jonas and other friends. Dr. Luther 
gave alms to the poor as they passed 
through the village. Dr. Jonas also 
gave some alms, saying : " Who knows 
what God will give me in return?" 
Luther laughed and said : "As if God 
had never given you anything ! One 
should give with simplicity, out of pure 
love, and willingly." 





OF THE DEVIL. 

r 

HEN the devil comes to 
torment me by night," said 
Dr. Martin Luther, " I give 
him this answer : ' Devil, I 
must sleep now. It is God's command 
and ordinance that we work by day 
and sleep by night.' When he presses 
hard upon me b cause of my sins, and 
accuses me as a great sinner, I treat 
him with scorn a: d say, ' Sancte Satane, 
era fro nobis; for thou hast never 
done any evil, thou alone art holy ! 



64 S>t tlje 2Drt»fL 

Go to God thyself, and win grace for 
thyself. Medice, cur a te if sum! 1 



This is the greatest and most diffi- 
cult temptation of the devil that he 
says : M God is the enemy of sinners ; 
but thou art a sinner ; therefore is God 
thy enemy." We ought to flatly con- 
tradict the first words of this syllogism 
and conclusion. It is false that God 
is the enemy of sinners, for Christ says 
clearly, and by His Father's command : 
" I am come to save sinners " (Matt. ix. 
13). If Satan holds up before thee 
Sodom and other examples of God's 
wrath, hold up Christ to him, who be- 
came man for our sakes. Had God 
been the enemy of sinners He would 
not have given His only-begotten Son 
for their sakes. 



flDf tf)e SDeftiU 65 

The devil gives heaven before sin. 
After the sin, he torments the con- 
science and causes despair. Christ 
does the exact reverse. After sin He 
gives heaven and a joyful conscience. 
* 

The devil is a sad spirit, and he 
makes people sad, and therefore can- 
not endure joy fulness. This is the 
reason why he flees away at the sound 
of music as far as he can. He will not 
remain within the sound of singing, 
especially of spiritual songs. 
* 

* 
Mention was made of the tempest 
there was at Niirnberg on February 18, 
1533. It began at midnight, and raged 
so fiercely that four thousand trees fell 
in the Niirnberg forest, and the roof of 
the castle was half torn off. There was a 
fearful wind accompanied with thunder 



66 flDf tlje SDetifU 

and lightning: so terrible was the storm 
that men imagined that the last day had 
come. Dr. Martin Luther remarked 
that it is the devil who sends such 
tempests, but the good winds are caused 
by the good angels. The devil snorts 
and blows as do the good angels when 
the good winds come. 

The devil vexes and deceives the 
workmen in the mines. He makes 
them imagine that they see veins of tin 
and silver when there is nothing there. 
For when he can bewitch and deceive 
people on the earth and under the light 
of the sun, so that they see one thing 
and think they see another, he can do 
it still more easily below ground in the 
mines. I do not deny that tin is some- 
times found in the mines, but that is a 
special gift of God. I never had any 
fortune in the mines, for Satan did not 



<3D£ tfje 2DefciL 67 

favour me with that gift of God, and I 
am well content. 



It is Satan, I believe, who sends 
plagues and sore sicknesses upon men; 
for he is the prince of death. Peter 
says (Acts x. 38), "Christ healed all 
who were oppressed of the devil." But 
Christ did not heal the possessed only, 
He also gave sight to the blind, made 
the lame to walk, cleansed the lepers, 
and caused the deaf to hear. I think, 
therefore, that sicknesses come from the 
devil. But he employs natural instru- 
ments as a murderer employs a sw r ord, 
and as God Himself uses natural means 
to give me life and health, such as 
sleep, food, and drink. Without means 
He does not commonly work. So does 
the devil injure and slay men by using 
means such as poisoning the air. A 
physician is God's cobbler, and mends 



68 SDZ tfje SDtfiiL 

the body ; we theologians are the spi- 
ritual cobblers and mend what the devil 
has injured. Our burgomaster once 
asked me if it was against God's will 
that we should make use of medicine ; 
for Dr. Carlstadt had been preaching 
publicly, " If a man is sick he ought 
not to use medicine, but he should 
go to God secretly and lay the matter 
before Him in prayer, and ask that His 
will should be done." I asked him, 
44 Do you eat when you are hungry ? " 
" Yes," said he. " Then," said I, " you 
may use medicine, for medicine is God's 
creature as much as food and drink." 




W I ASKED HIM, ' DO YOU EAT WHEN YOU ARE. 

hungry ?' '' — Page 68. 




PRA YER. 



| S it is the special work of a 
shoemaker to make shoes, 
and of a tailor to make 
coats, so is it the special 
work of a Christian to pray. 




The prayers of the Churches work 
great miracles. In my time it has 
raised three persons from the dead: 
myself, who have been often dying, my 
wife Kate, and Philip Melanchthon, 



70 draper* 

who, in the year 1540, lay at the point 
of death in Weimar. Although de- 
liverance from disease and bodily 
dangers are but poor miracles, yet 
ought we to notice them for the sake 
of those who are weak in the faith. 
To me it is a much greater miracle that 
our Lord daily gives baptism in the 
churches, the sacrament of the altar, 
and frees and absolves from sin, from 
death, and damnation. These are to 
me the great miracles. 



A question was asked regarding the 
words of Jeremiah, in which the pro- 
phet curses the day on which he was 
born (Jer. xx. 14). It was asked 
whether such words were sinful and 
unchristian. Dr. Martin Luther said, 
" We have sometimes to waken up our 
Lord God with such words, or He would 
not listen to us." 



BOOK II 




OF DEATH. 




r 



[ HEN his daughter lay very 
sick, Dr. Martin Luther 
said, "I love her dearly, but 
dear God, if it is Thy will 
that she should go hence, I shall will- 
ingly give her to Thee." He then 
said to his daughter, who lay on the 
bed : " Magdalene, my daughter, will- 
ingly thou remainest with thy father, 
and thou goest willingly to the Father 
yonder ! " She said : u Yes, father dear. 
As God will." Then said her father, 
4 



74 flDf 2Deatlj* 

" My dear little daughter, the spirit is 
willing, but the flesh is weak." 

* 

When Magdalene lay in the last 
agonies, and desired to die, her father 
fell on his knees before the bed, and, 
weeping bitterly, prayed that God 
would deliver her. Then she departed, 
and fell asleep in her fathers arms. 
The mother was also in the chamber, 
though farther off, because of her great 
sorrow. Magdalene's death took place 
at nine o'clock on Wednesday, the 
Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, in 
the year 1542. 

* * 

* 

The Doctor repeated often the words: 

" Willingly would I have retained her, 

for she was very dear to me, but His 

will be done. For her nothing better 

could have happened !" Master Philip 



SX 2Deatf)* 75 

then said, " The love of parents is an 
image of the love of God impressed 
upon the human heart. If the love of 
God to the human race is as great as 
the love of parents to children, as 
Scripture says it is, then is it a great 
love indeed." 

* * 

When she lay in her coffin, Dr. 
Luther said: "Ah, dear Lene, thou 
shalt rise again, and shine like a star, 
yea, like the sun ! I am joyful in spirit, 
but the flesh is sorrowful !" 

* * 

When the people came to help to 
bury the dead, Luther addressed them 
according to custom, and said: "My 
trouble makes you sorrowful, rather 
ought you to rejoice. I have sent a 
saint to heaven, yes, a living saint Oh, 
that we all could have such a death !" 



76 dDf 2Deatl)* 

On the night before Magdalene died, 
Luther's wife had a dream, in which 
she saw two fair young men, gaily 
attired, come to fetch Magdalene to 
her wedding. When Philip Melanch- 
thon came in the morning into the 
cloister he asked : M How is your 
daughter?" Then the mother told him 
her dream ; but he was affrighted, and 
said to the others : " These young men 
were the dear angels who shall come 
to fetch this maiden to her true mar- 
riage in the kingdom of heaven." 





OF THE 

RESURRECTION OF 

THE DEAD 

AND LIFE ETERNAL. 

r 

WILL rise again, and again 
speak with you. The finger 
on which this ring is shall 
return to me. All shall 
come back again, for it is written (2 Pet. 
in. 3), God will create "a new heaven 
and a new earth in which dwelleth 




78 flDf tfje Iftegurrectton* 

righteousness." That will be no empty 
or indolent realm. There will be pure 
joy, and rejoicing throughout it ; for 
heaven and earth will not be dry, un- 
fruitful plains of sand. When man is 
joyful, every little tree rejoiceth, yea, 
every fair little flower and shrub ; but 
when he is sorrowful, scarce can a tree 
hold up its head. Heaven and earth 
will be renewed, and we believers shall 
all at once become a mighty multitude. 
One asked Dr. Martin Luther, "Will 
there be dogs and other beasts in the 
future kingdom of heaven ? " " Yes, 
assuredly," he said, " for the earth will 
not be a lonely, empty desert. But 
they will no longer eat one another 
as do the toads, serpents, and other 
poisonous creatures, which on account 
of original sin became poisonous and 
dangerous. There will they be not only 
harmless, but loving and playful, and we 
shall amuse ourselves with them." 



S)t tije Wizmmztion* 79 

Dr. Severus said, "Many doubt 
concerning the article of the resurrec- 
tion of the ungodly." Dr. Luther 
answered, "I have spoken of it fully 
in my writing on the fifteenth chapter 
of the First Epistle to the Corinthians.'' 
Master John Matheson, Dr. Luther's 
companion at table, then said, "Sir 
Doctor, in the Creed there are, first, 
the words remissio peccatorum, after- 
wards follow the words carnis resur- 
rection which seems to show that those 
alone shall rise from the dead who 
have received forgiveness of sins.'' 
Dr. Luther said, u There are clear 
proofs in the Scriptures for the resur- 
rection of all the dead, such as John 
v. 28, 29 ; Matt. xxv. 32." 





OF MARRIAGE. 

r 

ftJCAS CRANACH the 

elder had painted a picture 
of Dr. Martin Luther's wife. 
And when the picture was 
hung upon the wall, Luther looked at 
it and said : " I shall have the husband 
painted also, and shall send the two 
pictures to the council at Mantua, and 
ask the holy Fathers assembled there, 
whether they like the married state or 
celibacy for the clergy." 



§2 flDf Carnage. 

On the day of St Martin, Dr. 
Martin Luther celebrated his birthday, 
and many learned men were invited to 
his table, among others Dr. Jonas, 
Dr. Caspar Creuziger, and Philip 
Melanchthon. Before supper Master 
Ambrose Bernd requested that the 
Doctor's niece Magdalene should be 
given him in marriage. Dr. Martin 
Luther said : " Dear friend, God has 
entrusted the maiden to me, and to 
Him I am responsible. May God 
give His blessing and benediction so 
that you may live a Christian life 
together ! " Then was the company 
joyful. Afterwards Dr. Luther spoke 
of wooing, and of that freedom 
which had been granted a newly- 
married bridegroom by Moses, other- 
wise a stern and hard lawgiver, when 
he enacted that the bridegroom should 
be freed from public duties for a whole 
year. 



flDF Carriage* 83 

In the year 1538, on November 22, 
Master Ambrose Bernd had a conver- 
sation aside with his betrothed. When 
Dr. Martin Luther observed them 
he laughed, and said : " I marvel that 
a bridegroom and bride have so much 
to say to one another, and that they 
never grow weary. But we must not 
vex them \ they have privileges above 
all law and custom,'' 



Mr. G. has married a rich wife, 
and has sold his freedom. Commonly 
it happens this way. When a poor 
fellow marries a rich woman, if he says 
anything that offends her, she imme- 
diately opens her mouth and upbraids 
him, saying : "You good-for-nothing 
fellow ! you would have been a 
beggar had I not married you !'' Mar- 
riages made for the sake of wealth are 
commonly accursed; rich women, for 



84 flDf Carriage. 

the most part, are proud, cross, and 

negligent, and waste more than they 
bring. 



* 

On New Year's Day Dr. Martin 
Luther's child wept and screamed so 
that it was impossible to quiet it ; the 
Doctor and his wife were much troubled 
for a whole hour. And he said, " There 
are tiresome things and troubles in 
marriage, and that is why men avoid it 
and remain unmarried. We are afraid 
of the whims of women, the howling 
and screaming of children, of expense, 
and bad neighbours ; and therefore 
we wish to be free lords and to do 
whatever we please. It is for this 
reason that none of the Fathers ever 
said anything good regarding marriage. 
But God of His grace has again by 
His word, before the day of judgment, 
given their true place to government, 



JDZ 9©arrtao:e. 85 

to the preaching of the gospel, and to 
marriage." 

* 
Dr. Luther sometimes laughed at 
his Kate for her gossip and chatter; 
and he once said, " Did you say the 
Lord's Prayer before preaching such a 
long sermon ?" But women do not pray 
before they preach, for if they did they 
would leave off preaching ; or if God 
heard them at once, He would forbid 
them to preach. 



Were I to marry again I should 
carve an obedient woman out of stone. 
For I despair otherwise of finding obe- 
dience in women. 




OF THE JEWS. 



pSSTroJiHE Jews are the most miser- 
* able of all the peoples on 
earth : they are everywhere 
plagued, and are scattered 
in many lands, and have no certain 
dwelling-place. They have neither 
country, nation, nor government, and 
yet they suffer everything, and wait 
with great eagerness, and comfort one 
another by saying, "It will soon be 
better with us." 



88 <3Df tfje HetoS* 

" If I were a Jew the Pope should 
never persuade me to his idolatry; I 
should rather be broken on the wheel 
ten times. The Papacy, with its abomi- 
nations and its idolatries, has been a 
great stumbling-block to the Jews. 
My belief is, that were the Jews to hear 
our preaching, and how we handle the 
words of the Old Testament, many 
would be won. By disputing with 
them we make them more fierce and 
stiff-necked, and they are by nature 
proud and presumptuous. But if one 
or two of their rabbis and chief men 
fell off from them, then a change might 
come, for they are almost tired of 
waiting." 



There are many Jews in Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main, and they live to- 
gether in a single street, in which 
every house is crowded They are 



<3D£ tfje letog* 89 

obliged to wear yellow rings on their 
clothes that they may be known. They 
possess neither houses nor lands, only 
movable property. They can only 
lend money upon houses or land at 
a great risk. 



There is no doubt that in remote 
times a great number of Jews fled to 
Italy and Germany and settled there. 
The eloquent heathen Cicero complains 
of the superstition of the Jews, and of 
their numbers in Italy. We can trace 
their footsteps through the whole of 
Germany. There is no city, no village, 
in Germany that has not Jewish names 
and streets. It is said that there were 
Jews living in Regensburg long before 
the birth of Christ. It was a mighty 
nation. 

"There once came to me," said 



go flDf flje ^etog* 

Dr. Martin Luther, " two Jewish rab- 
bis, and begged of me letters of 
safe conduct. They would have been 
satisfied with the letters I gave them, 
had I omitted from them the word 
Tola, that is, Jesus the crucified. They 
must blaspheme the name 'Jesus/ and 
the hymn J^esus is risen is always 
obnoxious to them. All other hymns 
pall upon us after a time, but every 
year we must sing afresh of the resur- 
rection of Jesus." Another Jew said, 
" Thousands of innocent men have been 
murdered, but no one now speaks of 
them ; but Jesus the Crucified One 
must always be thought of — His death 
it seems impossible to forget" 



A Jew, who wished to be baptized 
and to receive the Christian faith, made 
confession to a priest and said, " Before 
baptism I should like to go to Rome 



and see the Head of the Christian 
world. " The priest endeavoured to 
dissuade him, for he feared that if the 
Jew beheld all the wickedness and 
folly of Rome, he might be repelled 
from Christianity. But the Jew per- 
sisted, and he travelled to Rome, and 
beheld there many abominations ; but 
he returned to the priest and asked for 
baptism, saying, " I will now willingly 
worship the God of the Christians, for 
He is patient enough. If He can bear 
with such wickedness and villainy as is 
to be seen in Rome, He can bear with 
the villainy and vice of the whole 
world." 




OF ECCLESIASTICAL 
LEGENDS. 



FRIEND once asked Dr. 
Luther, " What legends are 
canonical, that is to say, 
in harmony with Scripture, 
and what apocryphal, or not in harmony 
with Scripture ? " He replied, " Very 
few are pure. The legends of the mar- 
tyrs are the least corrupt, for they bore 
witness to their faith with their blood. 
The legends of monks, especially of 




94 ®t ecclesiastical %z$zim. 

the hermits who lived apart from men, 
are horrible, and are filled with lying 
miracles and foolish stories about un- 
natural abstinence and torture of their 
bodies. I esteem greatly those saints, 
of whom nothing marvellous is recorded, 
who lived like other people, without 
pretence, and did not seek to make 
themselves notorious." 



* 
Dr. Martin Luther preached about 
St. Christopher on the day of that 
saint and said, "It is not a history 
but a story invented by the Greeks, 
who were a wise and ingenious people. 
Its purpose is to show what the life of 
a Christian should be, and how it fares 
with him. St. Christopher is a tall, 
strong man, who bears upon his shoul- 
ders the child Jesus. But he finds the 
child so heavy that he stoops under 
his burden as he walks through the 



dDf (Kcclegfta0ttcal %t$mb$+ 95 

wild, raging sea. The sea is the world, 
and the waves are the tyrants and 
wicked gangs by whose malice he is 
all but destroyed. But he supports 
himself by a great tree, as upon a staff; 
that is, upon God's word. On the 
other side of the sea stands an old man 
with a lantern, in which there burns a 
bright light ; this means the writings of 
the prophets. By it he guides himself 
and comes unharmed to shore, that is, 
to the life eternal. By his side there 
is a wallet, which contains fish and 
bread, and that shows that God will 
not suffer Christians to perish of hunger 
in this world, although the world would 
gladly be rid of them. It is a beautiful 
Christian poem." 




THE WORLD AND ITS 
WAYS. 







} OD might have left the world 
uncreated, but He created 
it that He might display 
His honour and power. We 
must not ask our Lord God and say, 
Quare hoc jacist We ought to per- 
form that which is commanded us, 
and not to say, Quare ? We must 
accept it that our Lord God is more 
pious than we. What is good comes 
from God; what is evil comes from 
5 



g8 %\}Z aaiorlti anti its &Eap<t 

the devil. Man uses his goods and 
his mind against God rather than for 
his own honour. Hence it comes 
that a man's friends are his greatest 
enemies. 



The world will never allow itself 
to be governed by laws and rules. It 
is very averse to trammels and reins. 
It would be free as a bird, as free as 
the irregular verb in Donatus, sum, es, 
est, eram^fui, &c. It cannot be conju- 
gated like another word. It goes now 
to one side, and now to another, like 
a meadow. There are also Defectiva, 
or verbs wanting in some of their 
parts, as the book in the schools 
Bellum Grammaticale is called. It is 
thus with the world which will not 
submit itself to law or discipline. It is 
the devil's bride who rides and drives 
it, so that it does from the heart only 



W$t aSlorlo ana itsf ffiHap& 99 

that which the bridegroom wills. We 
must let it remain sum, es, est, and not 
attempt to transform it into sum, sus, 
sut, for it is a self-willed word. 



The world is an assemblage of people 
who receive from God nothing but 
benefits, and render back thanklessness 
and blasphemy to the Giver. 



The peasants are not worthy of the 
fruits which the earth bears for them. 
I thank our God more for a single tree 
or a plant than do all the peasants for 
their fields. Then spake Philip Me- 
lanchthon and said, " Ah, Sir Doctor, 
but you must make some exceptions as 
Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Isaac who 
went forth to his fields that he might 
meditate on God's gifts in the creatures " 
(Gen. xxiv.). 



ioo %%z JLaiorlD anti ttg clfllap^ 

Human reason leads either to de- 
spair or to presumption. When she 
despairs, she dies sine crux et lux. But 
when she is exalted, she goes forth and 
is deceived. 



I have often wondered what led the 
heathen to say so many beautiful things 
of death which is so fearful and hateful. 
But when I consider the world, I 
wonder no more ; for there were so 
many stupid scoundrels in authority in 
the world who did them evil, that they 
had nothing to threaten them with but 
death. If the heathen regarded death 
so little, yea, held it in honour, how 
much more should we Christians ? for 
the poor people knew less than nothing 
of the life eternal ; but we know of it. 
But we are filled with fear and terror 
when any one talks to us of death. The 
cause of that is our sins, and we must 



<Wtjt oaJorin am ft* esia^ 101 

confess that we 'live worse than the 
heathen; and we cannot rightly com- 
plain, for the greater the sin, the more 
fearful is death. 

* 

The physician of the Bishop of 
Mainz, who fell off from the Gospel to 
Papacy and became a Mameluke, once 
said : " I will place Christ behind the 
door for a time till I become rich, after- 
wards will I bring Him forth again." 
And an ungodly usurer said : " If you 
are one who walks in fear of death, you 
will never become rich." Such ungodly 
and blasphemous speeches deserve and 
will receive the most severe punishment. 



It is a marvel, and a very scandalous 
thing, that after the pure doctrine of 
the gospel is again come to light, 



102 W$z aZBorlo anU ftjs 321aj?^ 

through the special grace and revela- 
tion of God, the world has become 
worse. Every one now makes Chris- 
tian freedom a plea for the indulgence 
of his own will, just as if he had a right 
to do whatever pleases him. The king- 
dom of the devil and the Pope, as far 
as external government is concerned, 
is best for the world ; for by them the 
world will be ruled by means of strict 
rules and laws, by superstition and 
vain imaginings. The teaching of the 
grace of God makes it more wicked ; 
for when it hears there is another 
world, it makes peace with this world, 
and leaves the Lord God to take 
care of the other. They are satisfied if 
they have only pleasant days, honours, 
and possessions as the Roman Popes 
and Cardinals have. A rich Cardinal 
died once in Rome and left behind 
him a great sum of money. In the 
coffer which contained his money he 



Clje 3£lorlD art& ftjs a&Iaps* 103 

left a bull. The coffer was opened after 
his death, and they found these words 
inscribed upon the parchment : 

Dum potui, rapui ; rapiatis quando potestis. 

Oh, how must the Cardinal have died, 
and what a fate must his have been ! 





OF PRINCES AND 
RULERS 




OVERNMENT is a sign of 
Divine grace. Its existence 
shows the mercy of God, 
and that He has no pleasure 
in murdering, killing, and strangling. 
The magistrate is like a fish net which 
is placed in a stream when fish are to 
be taken. But God is the troubler of 
the water who drives the fish into the 
net. For when a thief, robber, adulterer, 



io6 flDf pcfncejs ana Mettf* 

or murderer is ripe, God chases him 
into the net ; that is, He brings it about 
that he is taken and punished by the 
magistrate. For it is written in the 
Psalms : " God is Judge upon earth." 



* 

Rulers ought to give honour to the 
gospel, and to hold it high with both 
hands, for it upholds them and ennobles 
their position and office, so that they 
know what their calling is, and can 
perform its duties with a good con- 
science. In former times under the 
Papacy princes and lords were afraid 
of shedding blood, and of punishing 
robbers, murderers, and thieves : they 
did not rightly distinguish between the 
private person and him who performs 
a public duty. The executioner had to 
do penance and to beg forgiveness 
from the condemned criminal when 
he was about to execute his office, as 



flDf ^rinceg anir l&uler& 107 

if he had been doing wrong ; whereas 
it is his proper office which God hath 
appointed. St. Paul says, " He beareth 
not the sword in vain." When the 
magistrate punishes, it is God Himself 
who is punishing. 

•K- -K- 

* 
Duke Frederick, the Elector of 
Saxony, was very reluctant to punish 
malefactors, especially the poor thieves. 
" Ah ! " said he, " it is easy to take away 
life, but we cannot give it back again." 
And Duke John, the Elector of Saxony, 
was in the habit of saying about a 
criminal : " Ah ! he will reform and 
become a good man yet." Through 
all this weakness the land has become 
full of scoundrels. The princes were 
also persuaded by the monks that it 
was their duty to be gracious and kind. 
But magistrates, princes, and lords 
must not be soft and yielding. 



108 flDf ^rinttg ana Iftulergf* 

On one occasion a boy of eighteen 

years was brought before a judge for 

theft. The judge was anxious to save 

him from the gallows, and to release 

him because of his youth. But the 

prisoner said, " Make an end of me at 

once, for that is my destiny. If you 

release me, I shall assuredly return to 

the work of stealing." Dr. Luther 

then repeated the old proverb, "A 

thief is nowhere better than on the 

gallows, a monk in the cloister, and a 

fish in the water." He had begged 

off, he said, several from the gallows, 

but after a few days they stole again 

and were executed after all. Joab's 

counsel was much better than that of 

King David. 

* 

Dr. Martin Luther was on a cer- 
tain occasion the guest of the Duke 
Ernst of Liineburg, and of the Duke 



flDf $vintt$ ana l&uIergL 109 

William of Mecklenburg. Duke Ernst 
was a pious prince, and he complained 
of the drunken and licentious life led at 
courts, where, he said, men eat and 
drink all day, and yet pretend to be 
Christians. Dr. Luther replied, " The 
princes and lords ought to inter- 
pose." But Duke Ernst said, "Ah, 
Doctor, we lead the same life ourselves. 
If we did not, it would have ceased 
long ago." Meaning that the intem- 
perance of princes is the cause of the 
intemperance of the people. When 
the abbot throws the dice, the whole 
convent will play. 



Dr. Philip Melanchthon said on one 
occasion to Dr. Luther, as they sat 
at table, that he heard in his youth 
that during a Diet of the empire 
certain princes were boasting of the 
riches and advantages of their realms. 



no flDf princes ana IRttlerg. 

The Elector of Saxony said that he had 
mountains of silver in his land, and 
mines from which he derived great 
revenues. The Elector Palatine praised 
his wine which came from his vineyards 
on the Rhine. When it came to the 
turn of Eberhard, of Wiirtemberg, to 
speak, he said, " I am indeed but a 
poor prince, and am not to be com- 
pared with either of you ; but I have 
also a precious jewel in my country ; 
for should I at any time ride astray in 
my country and find myself alone in 
the fields, I could safely sleep on the 
bosom of any one of my subjects." 
When the other two princes heard this, 
they confessed that his was the richest 
and most precious jeweL 




OF THE USE OF 
LEARNING. 

r 

I S D O M, understanding, 
learning, and the pen 
govern the world. If God 
in His anger were to take 
away all the learned from the world, 
men would become wild beasts ; there 
would be no understanding or wit — 
nothing but robbery, stealing, murder, 
adultery. The mob would like that 
there were no wise and learned men 




ii2 flDF tlje <H3t of ^Learning;* 

left, for then would they live as they 
pleased. If that were so, the world 
would go to ruin, for without under- 
standing wisdom even Turks and Tar- 
tars could not live. Where there are 
men, there must be law and order. 





OF COMEDIES. 

r 

R. JOHN CELLARIUS 
asked the counsel of Dr. 
Martin Luther on the fol- 
lowing point. There was a 
learned schoolmaster who had caused 
a comedy of Terence to be acted. 
But many were offended, and thought 
that it did not become a Christian 
man to concern himself with the plays 
of heathen poets. Dr. Luther re- 
plied, "It ought not to be forbidden 




ii4 JflDf Contented 

to boys in school to play comedies ; 
they ought rather to be permitted. 
Firstly, because it affords them practice 
in the Latin tongue. Secondly, because 
in comedies characters are well por- 
trayed, and people are taught the conduct 
becoming in various positions in life. 
As in a mirror, they see in plays what 
is becoming in a servant, what in a 
lord, what becomes the young, and 
what the old. Christians should not 
entirely flee from comedies because 
now and then there are coarse matters 
in them. For the same reason we 
might cease to read the Bible." 




?£ 



OF THE POWER OF 
MUSIC. 

r 

£^f]pip§! HE fairest and most glorious 
" gift of God is music. It 
drives away the spirit of 
sadness as we see in the 
case of Saul. Kings, princes, and 
great lords ought to give their support 
to music; for it becomes potentates 
to maintain noble arts and laws. 
Music is a discipline, it is an instruc- 
tress, and it makes people milder and 



n6 flDf ttje ^ototr of ®$u$iu 

gentler, more moral and more reason- 
able. Even the bad players do this 
service, that by their means we re- 
cognize what is good music ; for we 
never recognize the white better than 
when the black is placed beside it. 



Music is a fair and glorious gift of 
God, and takes a place next to theology. 
I would not part with my small skill in 
music for much. The young ought 
continually to accustom themselves to 
this art, for it makes people cultivated 
and clever. 




OF SINGING. 

r 



RINGING is the best art and 
custom. It has nothing to 
do with this world. Singers 
are not care-laden people, 

but joyful, and they drive away care 

with their songs. 




While they were singing Passion 
music Dr. Martin Luther listened with 
great attention to it and said, " Music 



n8 flDf Singing;* 

is a fair and sweet gift of God. It 
has often given to me new life, and 
inspired me with a desire to preach. 
Saint Augustine had a conscientious 
scruple about it. When he heard 
music with pleasure, and was made 
joyful by it, he would afterwards weep 
as if he had committed a sin. He was, 
however, a noble, pious man. If he 
lived now he would be on our side. 
But Saint Jerome would condemn us." 





OF GERMANY. 

r 




R. MARTIN LUTHER 
and Philip Melanchthon 
journeyed to Torgau on 
April 3, 1537, and they 
spoke together of various matters. 
Philip praised the chronicle of Cor- 
nelius Tacitus, who lived in the days 
of the Emperor Caligula, and wrote 
beautifully of Germany, which he 
praised because of its steadfastness and 



120 (Bf (Bermanp* 

fidelity. For then were the Germans, 
steadfast, and kept troth, especially in 
marriage, in which they excelled all 
other nations. "Yes," said Dr. Martin 
Luther, " it was so among the ancient 
Germans, and they were noble men ; 
but now, alas ! in these last times have 
they sadly fallen off." 
* 

Germany is like a fair, strong steed, 
which has all the fodder it needs. 
What is wanting is a good rider. Ger- 
many has strength and people, but it 
wants a good head and ruler. 

* 
In the year 1538, on the 8th of 
December, there came a pious, honour- 
able matron from Magdeburg to Dr. 
Martin Luther. She was a very tall 
woman, and her daughter was equally 
so, and her son was a head taller than 



flDf d5ermanp* 121 

Master Anthony Lauterbach, the deacon 
of Wittenberg, who is a very tall man. 
Then said Dr. Martin Luther, "You 
may see in these an example of the old 
German bodies. They who lived long 
ago were like giants ; we have become 
pigmies and dwarfs." 

I believe that England is a part of 
Germany. The people there speak 
the Saxon speech as in Westphalia 
and the Netherlands, although it is very 
much corrupted. I believe that the 
Germans in ancient times passed over 
to England and settled there. 

If I were to travel much, I should 
like best to travel in Bavaria and in 
Swabia; for the people there are friendly 
and good-humoured, hospitable to 
travellers and strangers, and they give 
6 



122 flDf dformanp* 

them good entertainment for their 
money. The Hessians and the dwellers 
in Meissen do also to a certain extent, 
but they are very eager for money. 
But the Saxons are very unfriendly and 
discourteous, and give neither good 
words nor good eating. You see here 
in Wittenberg what an unfriendly 
people they are. Expect neither 
honesty, nor politeness, nor religion 
here. No citizen of Wittenberg will 
allow his son to study, although they 
have a noble example before them in 
the number of stranger students and 
guests who flock to their city. 




OF LANGUAGES. 




r 

HE Greeks have good and 
charming words, but they 
have no sentence. Their 
language is friendly and 
gracious, but it is not rich in proverbs. 
The Hebrew language is simple, but 
majestic and glorious. Simple and few 
it is in its words, but there is much 
behind them. It is pure, and does not 
go a-begging for words to other Ian- 



124 &>f Eangttapgu 

guages, but preserves its own colour. 
The Greeks, Latins, and Germans beg 
words, and their languages have many 
compounds. ? am not master either 
of Hebrew or of Greek, but nevertheless 
I think I could encounter a Hebrew or 
a Greek pretty well. The languages 
alone will not make a theologian; 
they are only helps. If a man is to 
speak of a matter, he must first of all 
know and understand the thing itself. 



I have no special German speech, 
but I use the common German speech 
so that both High German and Low 
German may understand me. I speak 
after the Saxon Chancery which is 
followed by all princes and kings in 
Germany and by the Imperial towns. 

* 



flDf %an$msz&+ 125 

The languages are fair and glorious 
gifts of God ; but men pay no heed to 
them. They are preserved by God 
alone. 





OF THE SCHOOLS AND 

UNIVERSITIES OF 

GERMANY. 

r 

HE universities of Germany 
are not very old. Fulda 
and certain rich monasteries 
were the first universities, 
and these by preaching and teaching 
instructed the youth in religion and in 
the useful arts. Had it not been for 
them the youth would have remained 
uncared for. But after the monasteries 




i28 fecfjoolg of d5ermanp+ 

became rich, they put this work from 
them, and the studies were corrupted. 



* 
In the year 1539, on the 18th day 
of January, in the evening, a comet was 
visible at Wittenberg. It was seen 
with great wonder by Dr. Martin Luther, 
Jonas, Philip Melanchthon, Milich, and 
Erasmus the astronomer. Dr. Martin 
Luther said : " I will prophesy of the 
wrath of God against Germany, not 
from the heavens, but from theology 
and the Word of God. It is impossible 
that Germany should escape without 
punishment. A great calamity will 
overtake it ; for God is constantly 
tempted to destroy us. The godly will 
perish with the ungodly. Let us only 
pray, and not despise God and His 
Word. Although we are all alike great 
sinners, yet is forgiveness of sins and 
eternal life promised to us in the Word, 




'It was seen with great wonder by 
Luther." — Page 128. 



»>cfiool0 of dformanp* 129 

and Turk and Emperor help us to it. 
They will not harm us, but will rather 
help us on our way, but it grieves me on 
account of posterity, for they will be 
brought again out of the light into the 
darkness." 




** 




OF THE TURKS. 




R. MARTIN LUTHER 

wrote once to a great lord 
who had been made com- 
mander - in - chief in war 
against the Turks. He counselled him 
to lay to heart that he had four enemies 
with whom to reckon. He had not to 
contend with flesh and blood, but with 
the devil, who was the first enemy. 
Secondly, he had to reckon with the 
Turks. Thirdly, with the anger of God, 



i3a $)Z tfje Curfew 

Fourthly, with his own sins and those 
of his people. He ought to think of 
these things, humble himself, and pray 
to God for help. 





OF HEROES AND WISE 
MEN OF ANTIQUITY. 

r 

!R. MARTIN LUTHER 
spoke of the actions of 
heroes and great men, such 
as Alexander, Augustus, 
Hannibal, Pompey, and the like. " AH," 
he said, "are not fit for the work of ruling 
men. Warriors think of nothing but 
victory, and how to hold the field, and 
they bestow no thought upon good 
government, nor consider how a land 




134 &21t0t $$zn of antiquity* 

and a people are to be well ruled. 
Such were Scipio, Hannibal, Alexander, 
and Julius Caesar. But Augustus gave 
heed to government, and considered 
how it was to be carried on." 



Cicero is greatly superior to Aris- 
totle in philosophy and in teaching; 
the Officio, of Cicero are greatly 
superior to the Ethica of Aristotle. 
And although Cicero was involved in 
the cares of government, and had 
much on his shoulders, he greatly 
excels Aristotle, who was a lazy ass, 
and cared for nothing but money and 
possessions, and comfortable, easy days. 
Cicero handled the greatest and best 
questions in his philosophy, such as : 
Is there a God? What is God? 
Does He give heed to the actions of 
men? Is the soul immortal? &c. 
Aristotle is a good and skilful dialec- 



WL\$t ^en of antiquity* 135 

tician, who has observed the right and 
orderly method in teaching, but the 
kernel of matters has he not touched. 
Let those who wish to see a true 
philosophy read Cicero. Cicero was 
a wise and industrious man, and he 
suffered much and accomplished much. 
I hope that our Lord God will be 
gracious to him and to the like of him. 
Of this we are not entitled to speak 
with certainty. Although the revealed 
Word must abide, " He who believeth, 
and is baptized, shall be saved " (Mark 
xvi. 16), yet is it possible that God 
may dispense with it in the case of the 
heathen. There will be a new heaven 
and a new earth, much larger than the 
present; and He can give to every 
one according to His good pleasure. 



Dr. Martin Luther praised very 
highly the fables of ^Esop, and said : 



136 afllfge 9®m of jantfquftp* 

"They ought to be translated into Ger- 
man, and well arranged. It is a book 
not made by one man, but by many 
great men at various times. It is of 
the special grace of God that Cato's 
little book and the fables of -^Esop are 
used in the schools. As far as I am 
able to judge, there are no better books 
than Cato's writings and the fables of 
iEsop." 





OF THE FATHERS 

AND DOCTORS OF THE 

CHURCH. 




[HE Church Fathers wrote 
many good and useful 
things. Their writings 
should be read, however, 
with discrimination, and we ought not 
to accept and justify all that they say 
until we have applied to it the test of 
the Word of God. Hilary and Augus- 
tine wrote much that was good and 



138 2Doctorsf of tfje C&urcf). 

admirable of the Holy Trinity and 
Justification, and also of heretics, 
Nazianzene nothing. Gregory is a 
monk, Cyprian a pious man and an 
orator. Tertullian and Eusebius write 
histories only. Lactantius, as Augus- 
tine says, writes of strange things. 
In peace have they accomplished 
nothing, but they were mighty in strife. 
Bernard loved Jesus as much as any 
man; but in controversy, when he 
enters the list with foes, he is Bernard 
no more. 



Saint Ambrose was a pious, God- 
fearing, and courageous man. When 
his enemies, the servants of the Em- 
peror, commanded him to come out of 
the Church and to give up the rights 
and property of the Church, he lifted 
up his head and said, "See, here I 
stand, and I am ready to die." He 



SDoctorjs of tf)e Cfcurcf)* 139 

was a man of noble, joyful, and stead- 
fast soul. Although the Emperor 
Theodosius was usually a pious man, 
Saint Ambrose drove him out of choir 
and church, and placed him under 
excommunication, because he had 
acted with violence, and had com- 
mitted a great massacre in a city, 
sparing neither maidens nor children. 

* 
Jerome ought not to be reckoned 
among the teachers of the Church, for 
he was a heretic. I believe, however, 
that he attained to salvation through 
his faith in Christ. He says nothing 
of Christ, for it is only His name that 
he has on his lips. I know no teacher 
to whom I am so hostile as Jerome ; 
for he writes of nothing but fasts and 
meats and virginity. Had he spoken 
of the works of faith, it had been 
something; but he teaches nothing 



140 2Doctot# of tfje Cfiurrtj* 

either of hope, or of love, or of the 
works of faith. 



* 
Saint Augustine was painted in a 
book as a monk with a monk's cowl. 
Dr. Luther said, u They do the holy 
man injustice, for he led an ordinary 
life like any other citizen, and had 
silver spoons and cups. He was as a 
man among other people, and did not 
live the monstrous monkish life. But 
the Papists invented the fable in order 
to defend their own errors." 

* 
* * 

* 
"The Master of Sentences," Peter 
Lombard, was a very diligent man, and 
of a lofty understanding, and he wrote 
much that is excellent. He could 
have been a great and eminent doctor 
of the churches, had he devoted him- 
self with earnestness to Holy Scripture. 



gDottorjS of tfje Cfjurcf)* 141 

But he brought confusion into his 
book by means of the useless questions 
which he raised. Yet there were fine 
heads in those days, and they had no 
such favourable times as we have. 




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